U.K.’s ITV Catches Keshet’s Talent Show ‘Rising Star’

ABC picked up the Israeli format in the U.S.

LONDON — The U.K.’s leading commercial network ITV has acquired talent show “Rising Star,” which was recently picked up by ABC for the U.S.

The show, which is being repped by Keshet Intl., will be co-produced in the U.K. by ITV Studios and Keshet Intl. U.K.

The format, which was unveiled at Mipcom in October, had previously been sold to Hungary (TV2), Italy (Toro), France (M6 Group), Russia (Rossiya1), Germany (RTL) and the Nordics (Nordisk).

The show will include real-time voting by viewers via a free app, TV App to You, which is integrated into the show. If the performer secures 70% of the viewers’ and the judges’ votes, the screen rises in the studio and the new star is revealed.

The original show, which debuted in Israel in September, was produced by Tedy Productions for Keshet Broadcasting, and nabbed a 51.7% audience share at its peak. More than 9 million votes have been tallied through the app, which has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times.